David Mitchell — individual litigant, not a company
The "David Mitchell" in this dataset is a natural person, not an operating company. David Emerson Mitchell (May 1950 – Jan. 2, 2026) was a multiple myeloma patient and prescription-drug-pricing advocate who lived in Bethesda, then Annapolis, Maryland. He held a master's in labor and industrial relations from Michigan State, spent seven years at the United Auto Workers (including as communications director), and co‑founded the Washington, DC policy communications firm GMMB in 1986. He died of multiple myeloma on Jan. 2, 2026, at 75.
Affiliation / activity. In 2016 Mitchell founded Patients For Affordable Drugs (P4AD), a DC-based nonprofit, nonpartisan patient-advocacy organization focused exclusively on lowering U.S. prescription drug prices. P4AD states it accepts no funding from organizations that profit from drug development or distribution, relying on philanthropic grants (notably the Laura and John Arnold Foundation) and individual donations, including roughly $75,000/year from Mitchell. The organization describes a community of about 500,000 with some 38,000 patients sharing stories. Mitchell served as founder/president and board president until retiring in December 2025; Merith Basey is executive director.
Litigation posture. Case data show one tracked matter, as plaintiff only (0 as defendant) — a consumer/patient class-action posture, not a patent-assertion (NPE) pattern, and not an operating company defending against NPE suits. The tracked case, Louisiana Health Service & Indemnity Co. (BCBS LA) et al. v. Celgene Corp. et al. (S.D.N.Y. 1:23-cv-07871, filed Sept. 5, 2023), names Mitchell as a plaintiff and putative representative of the consumer subclass. It was filed in S.D.N.Y., not a plaintiff-friendly patent venue such as the Eastern District of Texas.
Context. The suit alleged Celgene/Bristol Myers Squibb monopolized pomalidomide (Pomalyst) through Walker Process fraud on the PTO, sham patent litigation, and reverse-payment settlements, in violation of Sherman Act § 2. The court dismissed in March 2025 and denied leave to amend on March 30, 2026. Mitchell was also a named plaintiff in an earlier Celgene class action (D.N.J. 2:17-cv-04319, filed 2017) over Thalomid/Revlimid; that case produced a $55 million settlement Celgene later rescinded. Plaintiffs notified the court in February 2026 that Mitchell had died; no substitution motion had been filed.